Plans for a new film studio complex in Hong Kong have taken an expansive turn.

Mona Fong, managing director of Shaw Brothers, which owns 35% of the planned "Movie City," will increase from 300,000 sq ft to 450,000 sq ft with a grant for extra land expected to come from the Hong Kong government. Fong said the expansion will bump the price up from $77m-$103m (HK$600m-800m) to between $109m (HK$850m) to $128m (HK$1bn).

Located in Tseung Kwan O, the western part of Hong Kong, the studio was scheduled to begin construction in November, 1999 but has been put on hold due to construction of a railway line nearby.

The production complex will include studios, post-production facilities, specialist laboratories, recording studios and back lots and will be rented out to film production or television broadcasting companies.

A Shaw Brothers-led consortium was awarded the land when it outbid Golden Harvest with a tendered price of $10m (HK$78m) in August, 1998. The consortium includes China Star Entertainment, Era International, Jing's Production, Media Asia Group and Mei Ah Film Production Company with Shaw Brothers as the major shareholder.

Speaking at the annual general meeting of Television Broadcasts Ltd (TVB), which is owned by her husband and media mogul Run Run Shaw, Fong said that Shaw Brothers is pressing ahead with plans for Movie City. It is still uncertain, though, when the studio will be given permission to begin building.